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bad, medium and great drummers

11-08-2011, 11:20 AM

Bad drummers have bad meter .They might have decent chops and tone ,or not . Medium drummers carry their weight and do the job well but have some issues ,maybe too soft or loud but mainly although they do do the job ok its still like they may not BLEND into the sound ,they do not play the song, they might not have a FEEL for intricate changes and or have the ability to deal with all this . A medium drummer might have fantastic chops or not, he will have good meter and tone . He will sound good most the time but what separates medium from great is song awareness .

great drummers are really amazing ,They kick ass somehow without being too loud and blend w/ the band and it sounds like a well oiled machine . They are punchy when they have to be and delicate when its called for . They feel and play the actual song and listen to whats going on . They do play loud but not too loud .

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A lot of what makes a drummer great is the band they're playing with. Charlie Watts and Bill Bruford are both great drummers. I couldn't imagine Charlie playing in Yes or Bill playing in the Stones, though.

Here's a tip - if you put out some horrible lo-fi recording that sounds like a Gorilla banging an antelope while using a vacuum with a bad belt drive to suck up a floor full of marbles and silverware - and folks don't line up in mass numbers to hop on your wagon... maybe it ain't us who don't "get it". - THX1138

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A lot of what makes a drummer great is the band they're playing with. Charlie Watts and Bill Bruford are both great drummers. I couldn't imagine Charlie playing in Yes or Bill playing in the Stones, though.

Exactly , there is a better fit for everyone somewhere.

Jack of all trades....Master of none...

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I agree, great drummers are amazing. I much them prefer them to bad drummers. I hope someday I will be a great drummer. I feel like most of the time I am an advanced-medium although most people tell me I am plain old bad. Mom always liked Joseph better anyway. That's why he got the rockin' accordion and I got stuck with the drums.

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I am sorry but the closer I listen to British drummers the more I think, with three exceptions, everyone of them sucks and plays nothing but simple rhythms too loud and tries to jerk off on them on. Yeah, that means every drummer Yes ever had , Jon Bonham and even the "great" Ginger Baker and Carl Palmer. Not a damned one of them is good enough to hold Buddy Rich's or Max Roach's or Gen Krupa's or Joe Morella's dirty jock strap.

The only ones who really "get it" and create a foundation and add something to the music, and, even more importantly truly define their band's sound are Ringo, Charlie Watts, and the late Keith Moon.

That is my opinion on it. And I didn't even TOUCH the fabulous Latin and Caribbean drummers, all of whom are far more sophisticated and just play hotter stuff than comes out of the UK.

Britain's got great guitarists and bass player and ivory guys, flutists and singers. But drummers? Not to these ears!

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While I sort of agree with what you're saying, there's no way I could group every drummer into three boxes. Numerous levels between medium and great.

I try to not overcomplicate . Theres a lot of difference between a drummer on the low end of the medium spectrum and the high ,yes . But to be great a drummer has to be perfect .Anything less ,hes medium or bad .I was talking about drummers in rock bands too .

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In pop genres the whole thing is sell, sell, cell, so you have this vain mindset that routinely spews hyperbole. Most drumming there occurs in bad mediums - you just can't quantify perfect. Matter of fact, perfect execution often sucks but for the execution; Yngwie being my favorite example. Superlatives like 'great' are overused and often misapplied.

You need to broaden the focus and consider the material and the context(s) before any scale of accomplishment has any relevance.